TD Private Client Wealth LLC Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 28.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,970 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DFS. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on DFS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.13.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $178.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $162.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.50. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $96.46 and a twelve month high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Discover Financial Services Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.